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Florida's Hurricane-Free Streak

By Chris Dolce

August 23 2012 11:46 AM EDT

weather.com

In 2011, Irene became the first hurricane to make landfall in the United States since 2008. Luckily for the state of Florida, Irene made a turn northward well off of Florida's eastern coast, sparing the Sunshine State. After the 2011 season concluded, Florida's good luck streak with no hurricanes remained intact for another year.

Wilma (2005)

Satellite image of Wilma as it moves across the Gulf of Mexico in the direction of southwestern Florida.

(CREDIT: NASA)

After an amazing four hurricanes (Charley, Frances, Jeanne, Ivan) hit Florida in 2004, you would think the following year wouldn't be just as bad. Then Dennis, Katrina and Wilma all made landfall as hurricanes in Florida during the historic 2005 hurricane season. Rita passed south of the Florida Keys that year, but did produce significant storm surge flooding in Key West.

Add up the numbers and that's a total of eight hurricanes that affected Florida in a span of two years. In the now more than six years following Wilma's landfall in southern Florida during October 2005, no hurricanes have visited the state since.

This past May, Tropical Storm Beryl came very close with small area of 70 mph sustained winds at landfall near Jacksonville Beach, Fla.

It's also interesting to note that prior to 2004 the last hurricane to make landfall was in 1999 when another Hurricane Irene moved across extreme southern Florida.

Such long gaps in hurricane activity can lead to complacency and residents of Florida and the rest of the coastal United States bordering the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico should take steps to be prepared equally each and every year.

(MORE: Hurricane preparedness tips)

Even a tropical storm can have significant impacts. Florida has seen a few examples of this since its last hurricane landfall in 2005. This past June, Tropical Storm Debby caused significant flooding and spawned numerous tornadoes. In 2008, Tropical Storm Fay moved very slowly across Florida and caused significant flooding in parts of the state.

Through the weekend and into next week, we will be following and providing the latest updates on Isaac and its potential impacts on the state of Florida. Stay tuned to The Weather Channel and weather.com.

(MORE: Updates on Isaac)

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